Charismatics believe strongly that every true believer is baptized with the Holy Spirit. They believe the evidence for this goes back to the beginning when 120 disciples were filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. They point to the opening of Acts 2 where the Bible says that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4). They teach that the pronoun “they” refers to the 120 disciples mentioned in Acts 1:15. But, the passage does not say that.

The key to understanding the ones under consideration in this passage is tracing the pronouns found in the context back to the nearest antecedent. That antecedent is found in the last verse of chapter 1.

Acts 1:26 (ESV)
²⁶ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

The antecedent is the noun “apostles,” telling us that all the references to “they” and “them” are to the apostles and not the 120. All the internal evidence of the passage affirms that this is the case.

This internal evidence begins with identifying who on this occasion spoke in tongues. We determine that by the reaction of the crowd to them. The crowd was amazed when they heard those on whom the Spirit fell speak in their native languages even though they were all Galileans. Here is our first hint of who it was that spoke in tongues, even though it is not concrete evidence. All the apostles were Galileans. Is it possible that all of the 120 that were previously in the upper room were Galileans? Yes, but there is no way to prove or disprove it. We do know that the apostles were.

While the apostles all being Galileans merely hint at them being the ones upon whom the Spirit fell, the next reaction of the crowd is far more conclusive. While some in the crowd were amazed, others were accusatory, saying that these men were filled with new wine. At that time, Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and said, “…these people are not drunk as you suppose…” (ver. 15). Why did Peter stand up with the eleven and defend them from the accusation of being filled with new wine? Why did he not defend all of the 120 disciples? The answer is clear—he and the eleven were the only ones accused of being drunk. Why? Because they were the only ones who spoke in tongues, telling us that they were the only ones upon whom the Spirit fell.

Adding to the internal evidence of the immediate context is the general truth that the apostles were the ones who were promised the baptismal measure of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; John 14:26; Acts 1:4, 8). All of this harmonizes together perfectly. The apostles were promised the power of the baptism of the Holy Spirit, and they received it on the day of Pentecost.

What is the importance of all this? A lot of error is taught and practiced today that is based on the teaching that all disciples are baptized with the Holy Spirit, and they claim that Acts 2 proves this by showing that the Spirit fell upon, not just the apostles, but all the disciples. The problem for them is that the passage does not say the Spirit fell on all of the disciples, it says that “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,” and, as we have seen, the passage shows that the “they” were the apostles.

No one today has been baptized with the Holy Spirit, and no one has the power that went along with that. Do not allow some religious hucksters to sell you a lie, claiming that they can heal you, and then ask you for a large donation of some kind. Only the apostles were baptized with the Spirit, with the only possible exception being the household of Cornelius (Acts 10). Always remember, that the baptismal measure of the Spirit gave the apostles the ability to transfer miraculous power to others (Acts 8:14-18). If someone ever claims that he or she has it, demand that they give it to you.